RESEARCHES OF SIR W. CROOKES

the genesis of the so-called transfiguration, i.e. , . . the
medium takes upon herself the part of the spirit, endeavour-
ing to dramatize the character of the person in question by
clothing herself in the materialized fabrics. This transi-
tion stage is found in nearly all materialization mediums.
The literature of the subject records a large number of
attempts at exposure of mediums thus impersonating
" spirits/' e.g. that of the medium Bastian by the Crown
Prince Rudolph, that of Crookes's medium, Miss Cook,
that of Madame d'Esperance, etc. In all these cases the
medium was seized, but the fabrics used for masking
immediately disappeared, and were not afterwards found.

It would appear, then, that the true reproach in
such cases lies with the negligent sitters rather than
with the unconscious medium.

The sensational nature of Professor Crookes's ex-
periments with Miss Cook, and the fact, no doubt, that
they seemed more vulnerable to attack, have tended
to obscure his very positive results with Home and
with Miss Fox, which have established the powers of
those mediums upon a solid basis. Crookes soon found
the usual difficulties which researchers encounter, but
he had sense enough to realize that in an entirely new
subject one has to adapt oneself to the conditions,
and not abandon the study in disgust because the
conditions refuse to adapt themselves to our own
preconceived ideas. Thus, in speaking of Home,
he says:

The experiments I have tried have been very numerous,
but owing to our imperfect knowledge of the conditions
which favour or oppose the manifestations of this force,
to the apparently capricious manner in which it is exerted,

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